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Money and Debt - Part II - Freedom and the Monetary Ideal by Tom Greco
Part I here
Part III here
Part II - Freedom And The Monetary Ideal
The Etherealization of Money
As Mark Kinney so astutely points out, each civilizational phase is based on some new communications medium which brings with it a totally new pattern of thought and behavior. This is the meaning inherent in Marshall McLuhan’s famous statement that “the medium is the message.”
Kinney cites Arnold Toynbee’s contention that humankind is ever “etherealizing” its methods so as to achieve more with less effort. This means that each succeeding communications medium outperforms its predecessor by accessing greater volumes of information of greater precision to more people over greater distances with less effort.
This is clearly the case when we consider developments in communications technologies over the past few centuries, and especially, the computerized telecommunications channels which have exploded upon the scene within the past decade. Our methods have clearly been etherealized, not only in form but also in content. Information is increasingly abstract and symbolic, and the means of transmission is increasingly ephemeral (transitory, energetic; not concrete). Thus we see a progression from physical objects carrying information, to handwritten and printed documentation being physically conveyed, to electrical and magnetic pulses being transmitted by wire and radio/TV.
From each new communications medium emerge new behavioral patterns which are largely exchange interactions. Each civilizational phase requires the development of an exchange medium appropriate to its other elements. The key element which is missing in the current transformational stage of civilization is that of an exchange medium appropriate to the situation. The exchange medium with which we are all familiar, and which, indeed, seems to dominate our lives, is money.
Money has, in fact, been progressively etherealized. From precious metal coins and bullion which carried value within themselves, to token coins and paper notes which were symbolic representations redeemable for real money (precious metal coin), to fiat, non- redeemable notes, to bank credit and computer accounts. The transfer process likewise has become more ethereal, from physical exchange of valuable metal and tokens, to symbolic exchange using checks and money orders, to electronic transfers. The process, however, is not yet complete. In this current transitional stage, the exchange medium lags behind other aspects of the transformative process, causing the human struggle to be intensified and bringing civilization to the brink of disaster.
It is becoming more and more clear that the essential characteristic of money is (or has become) information. As Michael Linton has expressed it, “Money is information we use to deploy human effort.” Ralph Haulk has added that “money validates knowledge.” From these realizations, Kinney has postulated that there are two basic types of information, “formulative information, by which we can design and plan most any kind of project,” and “executive information, which concerts the precise qualities and quantities of productive resources needed to put those plans into operation.”
The difficulties we are facing in the present transitional stage stem from the situation that formulative information has become increasingly accessible to more and more people while executive information is still mostly monopolized. This impedes the vast majority of people from acting in ways which are consistent with their values and beliefs and their own best interests, and gives undue power to those who sit at the top of the financial and state hierarchies. The projects which get carried out are those which tend to maintain and consolidate the power of the hierarchies, which at the same time are wreaking havoc with the environment and causing vast amounts of human suffering.
The new media have brought the capability of efficient worldwide person - to person communications, and as a consequence humankind now has the potential of realizing a condition of global, universal peace and prosperity. But this can only come about through the popularization of executive information and the devolution of power to the elemental social units.
The monopolization of executive information by governments and financial elites is embodied in their control over the process of issuing money. Governments are no longer dependent upon taxation for financing their operations. Through their collusive arrangements with the banking and financial cartel and their control over the exchange mechanisms, they are able to spend without limit and levy a hidden tax in the form of inflation. The personal income tax is not so much a mechanism of government finance as it is (1) a justification for collecting detailed information about each citizen, (2) a means of implementing social policy and (3) a control mechanism for regulating the rate of inflation of the currency.
The Etherealization of Money
As Mark Kinney so astutely points out, each civilizational phase is based on some new communications medium which brings with it a totally new pattern of thought and behavior. This is the meaning inherent in Marshall McLuhan’s famous statement that “the medium is the message.”
Kinney cites Arnold Toynbee’s contention that humankind is ever “etherealizing” its methods so as to achieve more with less effort. This means that each succeeding communications medium outperforms its predecessor by accessing greater volumes of information of greater precision to more people over greater distances with less effort.
This is clearly the case when we consider developments in communications technologies over the past few centuries, and especially, the computerized telecommunications channels which have exploded upon the scene within the past decade. Our methods have clearly been etherealized, not only in form but also in content. Information is increasingly abstract and symbolic, and the means of transmission is increasingly ephemeral (transitory, energetic; not concrete). Thus we see a progression from physical objects carrying information, to handwritten and printed documentation being physically conveyed, to electrical and magnetic pulses being transmitted by wire and radio/TV.
From each new communications medium emerge new behavioral patterns which are largely exchange interactions. Each civilizational phase requires the development of an exchange medium appropriate to its other elements. The key element which is missing in the current transformational stage of civilization is that of an exchange medium appropriate to the situation. The exchange medium with which we are all familiar, and which, indeed, seems to dominate our lives, is money.
Money has, in fact, been progressively etherealized. From precious metal coins and bullion which carried value within themselves, to token coins and paper notes which were symbolic representations redeemable for real money (precious metal coin), to fiat, non- redeemable notes, to bank credit and computer accounts. The transfer process likewise has become more ethereal, from physical exchange of valuable metal and tokens, to symbolic exchange using checks and money orders, to electronic transfers. The process, however, is not yet complete. In this current transitional stage, the exchange medium lags behind other aspects of the transformative process, causing the human struggle to be intensified and bringing civilization to the brink of disaster.
It is becoming more and more clear that the essential characteristic of money is (or has become) information. As Michael Linton has expressed it, “Money is information we use to deploy human effort.” Ralph Haulk has added that “money validates knowledge.” From these realizations, Kinney has postulated that there are two basic types of information, “formulative information, by which we can design and plan most any kind of project,” and “executive information, which concerts the precise qualities and quantities of productive resources needed to put those plans into operation.”
The difficulties we are facing in the present transitional stage stem from the situation that formulative information has become increasingly accessible to more and more people while executive information is still mostly monopolized. This impedes the vast majority of people from acting in ways which are consistent with their values and beliefs and their own best interests, and gives undue power to those who sit at the top of the financial and state hierarchies. The projects which get carried out are those which tend to maintain and consolidate the power of the hierarchies, which at the same time are wreaking havoc with the environment and causing vast amounts of human suffering.
The new media have brought the capability of efficient worldwide person - to person communications, and as a consequence humankind now has the potential of realizing a condition of global, universal peace and prosperity. But this can only come about through the popularization of executive information and the devolution of power to the elemental social units.
The monopolization of executive information by governments and financial elites is embodied in their control over the process of issuing money. Governments are no longer dependent upon taxation for financing their operations. Through their collusive arrangements with the banking and financial cartel and their control over the exchange mechanisms, they are able to spend without limit and levy a hidden tax in the form of inflation. The personal income tax is not so much a mechanism of government finance as it is (1) a justification for collecting detailed information about each citizen, (2) a means of implementing social policy and (3) a control mechanism for regulating the rate of inflation of the currency.
Part I here
Part III here